Bradford AI may have identified the de Brecy Tondo as a Raphael

AI system

System: University of Bradford facial-recognition deep-learning comparison (Hassan Ugail); contrasted with Art Recognition's authentication model
Model: Not assessed
Release: Not assessed
Application developer: University of Bradford and University of Nottingham team (Ugail); Art Recognition AG (Carina Popovici)
Role: Not assessed
Configuration: Not assessed
Inputs and outputs: Not assessed
Autonomy: Not assessed
Workflow: Deep-learning facial-feature comparison between the Tondo and the Sistine Madonna. Public exhibition by a municipal gallery.
Human oversight: Not assessed
Relation to AI: Bradford's model produced the similarity figures that underpinned the “undoubtedly Raphael” claim and the exhibition. Raphael scholars reject the attribution. Art Recognition's model gives 85% probability against Raphael. The evidence is press reporting and the deployer's own page. No peer-reviewed report of the Tondo analysis and no institutional acceptance was found.
AI contribution: Not assessed

Participants: Developer: University of Bradford and University of Nottingham team (Ugail); Art Recognition AG (Carina Popovici). Operator: de Brecy Trust; Bradford Museums & Galleries (Cartwright Hall Art Gallery).
Jurisdictions: Benefit: Bradford, England, UK. Developer: United Kingdom. Operator: United Kingdom.
Ownership and control: Not assessed
Dependencies: Not assessed
Cross-border connections: Not assessed
Geopolitical implications: Not assessed

Conditions for replication: Scholarly acceptance of AI attribution (absent). Agreement between independent AI authentication models (absent).
Replication attempts: 2 follow-up entries. Benefit did not recur: 2.
Later findings: 18 September 2023. Raphael scholars quoted by The Art Newspaper the day after the display opened called the painting a 19th-century copy, and in September 2023 (reported by Artnet on 18 September) the rival authentication firm Art Recognition said its model classified the Tondo as not by Raphael with 85 percent probability; no museum or auction house accepted the attribution.
Availability: Not assessed
Institutional decision: Not assessed
Grounds: Not assessed
Action and result: Not assessed
Success criterion: Not assessed

Assessed benefits: People. Organizations. Society.
Depth: People: Not assessed. Organizations: 1. Society: Not assessed.
Reasons: People: No individual beneficiary. Organizations: Bradford Museums exhibited the painting as a possible Raphael and extended the display “due to popular demand”. Society: The attribution is not accepted by scholars or institutions.
Observed or intended: Not assessed
Rubric: Not assessed
Assessor and date: Not assessed
Alternative assessments: Not assessed
Fill: Independently reported

Kind: Not assessed
Related entries: Not assessed
Field: Cultural heritage; art attribution. Museum visitors and the painting's owners.
Purpose: Test whether facial features in a disputed painting match those in an authenticated Raphael
Dates: Date basis unassessed: 2023 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
Stage: Not assessed
Version: SHA-256: 1fd297a79151…